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Wednesday, February 16, 2011

With Tomas Kaberle on the block yet again there has been a
lot of talk concerning not just which teams would be interested in dealing for
him, but the teams he would waive his no-trade clause if a trade could be
worked out. Over the past few days there
has been massive twitter chatter about Kaberle concerning whether he had or had
not already waived his NTC and if he had made it clear he would only go to one
team.

The conversation about him narrowing his list of acceptable
teams started two days ago with a Incarceratedbob
saying it was down to one team and that being confirmed by Nick Kypreos
yesterday as the Boston Bruins. However,
today on ESPN.com,
Pierre LeBrun in debating different trade possibilities claimed that he thinks
Kaberle would waive his no-trade if the Rangers were the team that Burke
worked out a deal with. Burke would love to have more than just the Bruins out there as suitors and acceptable places for Kaberle to go because it would increase his leverage as opposed to basically being in the position of giving him to the Bruins or keeping him.

There is so much bad information out there right now that it
is hard to get a true read on what the Rangers are looking to do, what the
Kaberle camp want and what exactly Brian Burke is asking for. The only things that are certain right now is
that level of bad information is only going to rise and the market is vastly overpriced
at the moment making one have to wonder if dealing for Kaberle is even worth
it. When Chris Kelly is getting a 2nd
round pick, something is wrong here and says that Kaberle likely cannot be had
without giving up a first round pick, which is simply too high a cost for him
in my opinion.

It is Wednesday, so that means it is time for Blueshirt
Banter Radio with Jim Schmiedeberg and Eddie "The Mouth" Gieck at 8 pm.
If you have not listened to the show before, you do not know what you
are missing, as it is the most open and honest discussion of Rangers hockey out there. Beyond the show itself you can have the enjoyment of participating in the chatroom with other New York Rangers fans talking about the team in a fun atmosphere.

During tonight’s show things will be slightly
different than normal as during the 9PM hour of the show there will be a
bloggers roundtable with various New York Rangers bloggers. Included in the roundtable will be Nick
Montemagno of The
Rangers Tribune, Dave Shapiro of Blue Seat Blogs, Eric of 5-hole.com,
Kevin DeLury of The New
York Rangers Blog and myself.

I am going to assume that everyone who reads this
already knows to read each of the other bloggers that are listed and will all
be attending tonight’s radio show. See
you there!

The New York Rangers have decided that Wojtek Wolski’s
injured ribs have not healed sufficiently over the past three days for him to
play tomorrow against the Kings. The
discussion seems to center around Wolski wanting to go but being unsure of how
long he would last and Andrew Gross
passes along that coach John Tortorella did not want to start the game with him
and end up short a forward early on.
This is similar to how they handled the Dan Girardi rib issue right
before the All-Star break and it is a smart move to play it cautious right now
and not make into a bigger or longer term injury issue.

With Wolski out of the lineup, the team has recalled Kris
Newbury from the Connecticut Whale and he will be in the lineup tomorrow. There is no word yet on where Newbury will
play, but he is capable of playing either center or left wing. I would expect Newbury to play somewhere along the fourth line no matter which position and for Zuccarello to move out of that spot and take Wolski's spot with Boyle and Callahan.

Speaking of Zuccarello, also per Andrew Gross,
Mats Zuccarello will take Wolski’s point position on the power play unit. After looking shaky there earlier in the
year, coach John Tortorella has liked what he has seen from Zuccarello on the
point during recent practices. The fact
that the Rangers have Zuccarello and Stepan on the points on the power play
only underscores their need for a natural power play quarterback.

On the defensive side, according to
Steve Zipay, and to the surprise of no one, Michael Del Zotto will be back
in and Steve Eminger will be out. I say
that there is no surprise because Eminger only got 4:08 of playing time against
the Penguins, so Del Zotto being moved back into the lineup has as much to do
with displeasure towards Eminger as a vote of confidence in Michael, in my
opinion. The reality is none of the
final three guys in the defensive rotation are playing well right now and I
would not be surprised to see either a trade happen or Matt Gilroy also get sat
down in the near future.

The New York Rangers possess the youngest defensive core in the NHL, and while many worry about their age and inexperience the group has been a strength of the team this season. A large reason for that has been the play of rookies Michael Sauer and Ryan McDongah. Yesterday, I took a look at
Michael Sauer, and his transformation from overlooked prospect to core member of the defense and now in part two we get a look at his partner, fellow rookie, Ryan
McDonagh. Unlike Sauer, who was under
the radar, there was certainly hopes and expectations for the former first
rounder as he made the transition from the University of Wisconsin to the
professional ranks. There were some
bumps in the road to start in the AHL, but after figuring that level out I do
not think anyone could have foreseen his transition from the AHL to the NHL
being as smooth as his skating stride makes it look. Let’s take a small look back and then a look
ahead to what the Rangers have in their new number 27.

Most know that Ryan was acquired
by the Rangers in the coup that was the Scott Gomez in the summer of 2009. Instead of turning pro, he went back to
Wisconsin for his junior season where he was an assistant captain and helped to
lead the Badgers, along with Derek Stepan, to the NCAA championship game. At Wisconsin, McDonagh was paired with more
offensive-minded defenders like now Toronto Maple Leaf’s property Jake
Gardiner, which left Ryan to focus on the defensive side of the game. This confused and disappointed some Rangers
fans last year when they would check the stats and saw McDonagh was not
producing points after reading the scouting reports from his draft year talking
about offensive potential. The fans that
worried about if he was as good as advertised then are reaping the rewards of
the impact being at Wisconsin had on McDonagh’s game.

McDonagh participated in the
Rangers Development Camp this summer unsure if he would go back to the
Wisconsin for his senior season and be the captain or turn pro. He decided following the camp he would turn
pro. As soon as that decision was made
there was hope among many, including myself, that Ryan could earn a spot on the
Rangers from the start of the season.
After a solid training camp, in which he was one of the last cuts, he
went down to the AHL and struggled to start the season. For the first month Ryan was fighting the
play, but he settled in and worked his way back to being an option for the club
if they needed to make a call.

When McDonagh was initially called
up on January 3rd there was no guarantee he would even see action
during his stint in New York. A rib
injury to Michal Rozsival would get him a chance to play against the Dallas
Stars, and while the nerves showed in the first game, the skill and poise
shined in his second. The Rangers were
so comfortable with what McDonagh did in just those first few games that they
were willing to deal away Rozsival and Ryan has not let that faith and trust
down. Ryan has only gotten better and
better with each game, showing an increased level of comfort and belief in his
belonging on this stage.

He has been plus-4 in 17 games, but
more impressive is the fact that he is been over or plus in 13 of those 17
contests. In terms of ice time he has
been playing an average of 16:17 per game.
The 16:17 is misleading because in his first six contests he never
played more than 12:03 in a game. In the
eleven games since he has played above that average in ten of the games, while
eclipsing 20 minutes on five occasions.
He will not blow anyone away with offensive prowess as his two assists
so far show, but he is a player whose game goes far beyond the stat sheet. There is also the potential to add some
offense to his game.

So what is it that makes McDonagh
play such sound hockey? This summer,
before McDonagh signed, the New York Rangers had a
feature on him, which looked at how he had progressed and his thoughts on
the game. Here is McDonagh in his own
words…

"As a defenseman, I want to make sure I'm strong
in my own end," said McDonagh. "A team won't be able to live with you
for very long if you're not taking care of your own end and making smart plays
and keeping the puck out of your own net at times. I'm a big guy, and I like to
be physical and tough to play against for the other team's best forwards. I
like to match up against them a lot and log a lot of minutes."

McDonagh has shown on the ice that
he truly believes those words in the way he goes about the game. Looking beyond those numbers I mentioned it
is the vast set of skills McDonagh has shown on the ice that have so many so
excited for his future. When Ryan is on
the ice you see all of the following: excellent positioning defensively; a
feistiness to his game in terms of hitting and clearing the crease; excellent
instincts on when to step up both in the neutral zone and pinch offensively;
and most importantly exceptional poise on the puck. McDonagh will never be a player that dazzles
with flash, but he will be a lunch-pail defender that can shut down top flight
competition, much like Michael Sauer, and to have that in a 21-year-old bodes
extremely well for the Rangers future.

With what McDonagh has shown at
the outset of his career, there is no reason to expect anything less than a top
four defenseman for the New York Rangers for the next decade. These are the pieces you build a franchise
around and this is yet another reason this year for the Rangers goes far beyond
whatever the final outcome is for the team.
Possessing Staal, Girardi, Sauer and McDonagh the Rangers possess four
standout shutdown defensemen in their core, which is something few if any teams
around the league can claim; especially at their respective ages. Just wait until Michael Del Zotto gets his
game back and the Rangers Department of Defense will be ready to go to battle
with anyone.